MJ McMahon

Mj McMahon was born and raised in East Co. Clare. From an early age he played percussion and bódhran and later in his teenage years, developed an interest for the guitar. In 2001 Mj moved to Limerick where he studied traditional Irish music at University Limerick. Here, he learnt under the tutelage of guitar masters Steve Cooney, Ian Carr, Chris Kelly, amongst many others. Since completing his Masters ten years ago, MJ has toured Europe extensively with the Irish dance shows 'Celtic Legends' , 'Mystical Dance of Ireland' . He also regularly plays in the American production 'Emerald Beat' based in Bush Gardens, Florida. When MJ is at home in Maynooth, he teaches bódhran and guitar and enjoys learning the banjo!

Courses MJ McMahon Teaches:

DADGAD Guitar Accompaniment

The aim of this course is to learn how to accompany Irish music on the guitar. MJ uses the alternative tuning system - DADGAD in his tutorials as this is particularly suited to Irish and other Celtic music genres due to it's modal nature. The first half of the course will examine the chords, chord structures and strumming patterns of some of the more typical tune types and keys in the Irish tradition; the Jig, Reel, Slip Jig and Hornpipe focusing on the keys of D, G, Em and Am. MJ then progresses onto other techniques; the use of sliding [.. Read More]